Idds Change From Fentanil To Sufentanil, Too Much Or Not Enough

My dr changed my intrathecal pump med from fentanil to sufentanil 5 days ago. The change hit my system on Thursday morning. I had feeling of weakness in my legs, lethargic, tired. My blood pressure was 139/ 85. High for me. I saw my dr and he reduced the dose from 80mcg to 63mcg. I am not better. I am now having sweating, diarrhea, and blurred vision along with the other symptoms. I have been on Sufentanil before but many years ago. I'm going to see him tomorrow and my question is was I over dosed or under dosed. He told me when he adjusted my dose that he thought I would need more and thar is why he wanted me to call in and let him know how I was doing. When I came in with complaints of over dose he was surprised. I have a PTM personal therapy management that let's me give myself a bolus 4'times a day. I have been using it all day yesterday and today and I feel a bit better when I do. But not great. Could I have missed diagnosed my symptoms and led my dr to adjust my dose wrong. My pain is when I move and I have done nothing but lie in bed and sleep so I can't go on pain. I have a burning pain down the back of my legs that I haven't had in years. This is due to arachnoiditis. Any input would be helpful in talking to my dr tomorrow.

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Hi Lillyc,

Based on my research, Sufentanil is a very strong synthetic opioid analgesic drug, . It is about 5 to 10 times more potent than fentanyl, and 400 to 1000 times as potent as morphine.

With that being said, I believe it's possible that the dose of Sufentanil (63 mcg) is still too strong in comparison to the Fentanyl.

However, it is also possible that you are just experiencing side effects. Gastrointestinal side effects like nausea and vomiting have been reported with the use of Sufentanil as well as cardiovascular side effects like hypertension (high blood pressure)- but I haven't read reports of sweating, diarrhea, and blurry visions being side effects... Everyone reacts to medications differently though, so I definitely wouldn't count those symptoms out.

I'm sure your body is just trying to adjust to the change in medication and dosages, maybe these symptoms will pass once you've been on the Sufentanil for some time. If the symptoms get worse or don't go away, seek emergency medical attention and notify your doctor.

I hope this helps, post back and let me know how things work out! Good luck. :)

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Thanks for the information. I thinknyou are rt about my body adjusting to the drug. My dr basically said the same thing. But when insider get better by the end of the week we realized there was something else. So we talked about what I was feeling and my side affects. He looked over the changes he had made to the other medications and particularly the dilaudid in my pump. Bottom line he thought maybe he had reduced the dilaudid too much and in doing so my body began to have withdrawal symptoms. He gave me oral dilaudid and a after two days of taking the oral dilaudid every 4 hrs I started to feel better. So now I go in to have the dilaudid increased and more slowly reduced in my pump. I feel so much better. A

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